Detectives in the Madeleine McCann case planned covert surveillance of the family of dead paedo Raymond Hewlett, The Sun can reveal

The pervert — who died of cancer aged 64 in 2010 — lived an hour from the holiday complex where Madeleine disappeared.

He denied involvement but in a deathbed letter to son Wayne said she had been “stolen to order” by a Belgium-based gang.

Detectives wanted to see if they could establish a link between Hewlett’s family and the gang. Two of his six children live in Portugal and ex-wife Mariana lives in Germany. There is no suggestion they were involved with Madeleine’s disappearance.

In a letter to son Wayne on his deathbed, he said Maddie had been ‘stolen to order’

A source told The Sun on Sunday: “The surveillance was to gather information on Hewlett’s family and their connections.

“They were not suspected — it was more of a fishing expedition to see who they associated with and if any of the ring were in contact.

“The operation needed the involvement of the Portuguese police and this had to be smoothed over as you couldn’t have a covert surveillance team working there without them being informed.

“Hewlett had claimed traffickers took Maddie and the surveillance operation was to see if any of the ring were in contact with members of his family. If she was taken then there is always the possibility she could still be alive.”

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Sex pest Hewlett was jailed three times for crimes against young children in the 70s and 80s.

In 1972 he received a 12-month term after raping a 12-year-old girl he had lured to his car and knocked out with paint stripper. Six years after that he was jailed for four years after attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl. He later received six years for abducting a 14-year-old paper girl at knifepoint.

Last night Raymond Hewlett’s son Wayne, a builder, told The Sun on Sunday he suspected in summer 2015 that he was under surveillance at home in Telford, Shropshire.

He said: “My partner and I thought someone might be watching the house. We would notice a car with somebody in it parked so they could see in.

“If it’s connected to Madeleine it’s the biggest waste of money I’ve heard of. What did they hope to find? I told detectives all I knew years ago.”

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday villa in Praia de Luz in 2007

Last week we revealed police working on the “Operation Grange” investigation into Maddie’s disappearance had been given an extra £95,000 to look for a new lead involving a Europe-based child trafficking gang.

Kate and Gerry McCann have always clung to the hope that Madeleine — who would now be 13 — was taken by traffickers from Praia da Luz, Algarve, in 2007 and may still be alive.

The theory she may have ended up in the hands of a child sex ring with connections in Morocco or Belgium has always rated highly with investigators.

Last night a Scotland Yard spokesman said:”Operation Grange are not prepared to discuss any lines of inquiry while the investigation is ongoing.”